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Concert to Feature Premiere of Work Written at Hope

The last concert of the school year at Hope College will offer a variety of firsts, including the world premiere of a work composed by two members of the faculty.

The concert, which will be held on Tuesday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel, will feature the premiere of "Babel," co-written by faculty members Dr. Brian Coyle and Dr. Brad Richmond. Coyle is director of jazz studies and Richmond is director of choral activities at the college, and the event will also feature the first pairing of the college's Jazz Arts Collective with Hope's choirs.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

"The presentation of the piece will fulfill a Nyenhuis grant that was awarded to Brian and me a couple of summers ago," said Richmond, who is a professor of music. "Our piece is a comment on the folly of war in general, and the huge volume of opinion and spin that has been generated on the subject over the past century."

In other works on the program, the concert will mark the debut of baritone Dr. JungWoo Kim, who joined Hope's music faculty in the fall as an assistant professor of voice. Kim will be singing the solos in the "Five Mystical Songs" for choir and baritone by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The piece will also feature faculty member Jennifer Wolfe as pianist and freshman organist Kristin Baron of Holland.

Choir and organ will also be featured performing "O Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem," by Herbert Howells; "Jubilate Deo," by Benjamin Britten; and the "Magnificat in B-flat," by C.V. Stanford.

In addition, the Jazz Arts Collective will be presenting three pieces on its own.

Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.